LakTEK

I'm closing this blog...

2006-05-20T15:33:00.000+05:30

Sorry ! I will be closing this blog.

My new blog can be viewed at www.web2media.net/laktek

Top 10 Ajax Applications.

2006-02-14T11:44:00.000+06:00

Dan Grossman's introduces the Top 10 Ajax Applications which are the high in interactivity, usability and compelling to users. He doesn't includes any Google, Microsoft or Yahoo stuff which are more familiar to us. Most of the featured apps includes a demo so that you can get an inspiration without following up annoying registration process. (and most of the apps got single page registration with maximum of 5 fields.)

The Ready to Rock Launch

2006-02-03T09:39:00.000+06:00

Wow ! what a wonderful event it was. It would have been the best IT event to be held in SL and no surprises it was Microsoft (they do anything big, but of course with errors). I was lucky to be among one of the 1200 who got the invitations, not one of the 600 who didn't.

The way they have built the concept was fabulous, with blend of oriental, rock and gothic cultures together. The startup was scintillating and it was not so techincal as usual. Knights, monks, and village folks created a Lord of the Rings kinda atmosphere. The music arrangement was also too great with the mix of Rock and oriental percussion.

That was not all, the sessions done by the top Microsoft gurus of the region such as Praveen, Ed and others were also much interactive with live demos. And the fully-fledged features of the new SQL Server 2005 (great it's now got XML bulit-in) and Visual Studio Team Suite (Managebilty of a whole project with one suite, one IDE among differnet roles in a team)

Also the added capabilities to ASP.net 2.0 is really cuts half of the job of developers. Master Pages, Memberships and Code Snippets makes the hard daily routines easier.

MS Official:- Microsoft IE& Beta 2 Live Download

2006-02-01T12:31:00.000+06:00

Offical Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 public release download.

read more | digg story

Web Standards, Accessibility and Sri Lanka

2006-01-26T16:03:00.000+06:00

Today web designing industry is focused more on standard based web development and it had developed to the extent of “Each web page must be standard compliant and semantically correct.” This gives no room for designers who still use tables for layout handling and WYSWYG editor such as Frontpage to create pages. Another aspect that comes with Semantics and Standards is the Accessibility. This means allowing using a web site for a disabled person without any discrimination (I hope I got my definition right).

The real value of semantically correct web page occurs when it is accessed through a screen reader or a brail system. I personally believe if every web site adopt semantics and standards internet will be the most easiest medium to gain knowledge for the disabled. Compared to the costs and time of Brail books and Audio Cassettes, Internet is far more cheaper and they could access information as it releases (no need to wait years for a Brail version of a book). They only have to get a screen reader or a brail reader/writer. This is what the real value of internet. Truly it vanishes the boundaries and limits.

Let’s think how this applies to Sri Lanka. When it comes to the rights of the disabled, we are far behind. Very few buildings are “Wheelchair Accessible” and public transport haven’t even thought of disabled. So how Internet Accessibility matters to the country like us ? Few weeks ago, I watched a television interview with a professor at Paradeniya University, who is visually impaired (forgive me for not remembering his name). He integrate computer and internet seamlessly for his academic work. It’s a one instance and I don’t have an idea how much they use internet for their education in the schools for disabled. If they can really get the maximum out of internet, they could be par on match with others in knowledge and education. Only matter of fact is adequate technology and accessible resources.

Another point is if we could get many services online and make them accessible (at least banking and other government form-filling processes), it will give the disabled a power in doing their work on their own.

So I guess it’s nice if all the web designers in Sri Lanka will give a concern in producing accessible web sites in future.

The Art of Professional Cricket ~ Let's Learn from Aussies

2006-01-20T10:36:00.000+06:00

Looking at the Austrailian squad for the today's match against South Africa, I noticed there have left out Gilchrist and given the gloves to Haddin. That's how Aussies play the game. Let's think about it in Sri Lankan Scenerio. Gilchrist being the vice captain and also one of prolific run-scorers in the past, chances of being dropped is 0.1%.

That's why Aussies remains in the no.1 and we scroll down to no.7. Now when I checked the scores again Jaques, the debutant who opened the innings was on fire and nearing his half-century. They don't need 10 ODIs to adopt to the game and they know if they do not seize the opportunity there are another 10 to grab it.

Hope our cricketers and authorities may look at the game in this aspect, Let's step aside personal benefits play for the victory of the country.

:Symbols in Ruby

2006-01-19T11:59:00.000+06:00

One thing that kept bugging me when I started using RoR (Ruby on Rails) was the expressions preceded by a colon (:id, :link). After little googling I found out these are called Symbols and it's does mainly save space by acting as an identifier for a set of strings that has to be used on several times in a code (There are other usages such as defining a method name).

Definition for symbols in the book Programming Ruby,

A Ruby symbol is the internal representation of a name. You construct the symbol for a name by preceding the name with a colon. A particular name will always generate the same symbol, regardless of how that name is used within the program.

Also in the blog Gluttonous I found some good explanations and usages of these symbols.

So :Symbols is no longer a queer, afterall it's a helper.

I'm going on Rails..Bye Bye PHP

2006-01-14T08:16:00.000+06:00

Eventhough, I had to use PHP for my development work, I was never really comfortable with its syntax. # @ $ ; spreading all over the code was unreadable and messy. Crossing the 'T' and dotting the 'I' stuff were the least likely things of me from kindergarten. So most of my development time in PHP wasted on syntax errors rather than focusing on the code. I knew I'm not alone in this scenario when 37signals' in-house web development framework "Ruby on Rails" hit the industry as a breeze.

Ruby on Rails was first introduced in 2004 and it had moved to from beta to stable version 1.0 . I read its regarded as one of the trends in web design for 2006 in .NET magazine, which made me to give it a try. Since then I'm fallen love with Ruby :) and I'm starting a sweet journey with her on rails. So if you also want to start a the journey with her, wait no more, coz this is FUN !!

I hope to share my experiences with you during this journey; but keep in mind I'm not a ~guru~ so I may also break my neck.........

The base station will be www.rubyonrails.com where you will find documentation, wikis, blogs, forums, screenplays and of course downloads for RoR (Ruby on Rails).

I recommend the following tutorials to start off with the game; also don't forget to watch some screenplays as an appeitizer.

Rolling with Ruby on Rails, Curt Hibbs 20-Jan2005 http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html
Fast-track your Web apps with Ruby on Rails, David Mertz 14-Jun2005 http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-rubyrails/
Four Days on Rails, John McCreesh - http://www.rails4days.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Rails4Days.pdf

These tutorials includes all the aspects of RoR that a novice should understand. In RoR blog also you will find many useful resources. Stay in touch with my blog, I will bring you the latest, real-life solutions and tips in Ruby on Rails.

Perspectives for the Year 2006

2006-01-01T12:30:00.000+06:00

First of all I must wish all my blog readers a very happy and prosperous new year.

Another exciting year has gone to the end and unfolds another fresh 365 days to pack with joy, fun, challenges and experiences. 2006 is a year of transition for me, my country and as well as to my industry. I'm going to start-up playing the dual roles as a University Student and a Web Developer, which would be fun yet challenging. 'Deadlines' will keep bugging me through out the year.

Talking about my country, fresh with newly elected president will face period of uncertainty of war and peace. All of us as Sri Lankans are wish the continuity of a proper peace process.(without any bomb blasts).

Industry wise will have to move with the stabilizing trend WEB 2.0. I hope to fill my toolkit with plenty of AJAX, css/xhtml, PHP and also my ever-loving flash. Also mobile compliant standard based designing will be my prime move.

Also I hope to refresh my blog with more usable layout and with more spiced up content. Hopefully to have a good blog audience for blog.

So leave any of your ideas or thoughts which may help me to bring you a blog that will not bore you.

Office Trip to Amaya Lake Hotel

2005-12-30T16:12:00.000+06:00

So it's coming to the end of year 2005, the year which took my life in a roller coaster ride. In the first 6 months of the year I was a A/L student and in last 6 months I was in the employed as a web developer. Year was full of events.

Meanwhile we went to Amaya Lake Hotel in Dambulla as our Annual Office trip. Amaya Lake Hotel, formely known as the Culture Club is packed with real Sri Lankan authentic taste. Upon arrival you will be greeted by Raban drum beats and then served with iced tea (certainly not not my taste). The nice environment facing to Kandalama Lake gives serenity and relaxation to the busy souls. Plenty of activities are also available from Mountain Biking to Hiking. The Buffet was also good. For some of our guys dessert tasted bit messy but always you have the option of having fresh fruits or curd.

Also I got my Flickr album on the trip. Visit

DeLon - The Best Rap/HipHop artist from SL ?

2005-12-22T15:05:00.000+06:00

He is Delon Jayasinghe. He claims he is coming from a village of Gampaha. He is lyrics are different, his raps are tight and his repertoire is filled with different genres from Salsa to Sri Lankan Percussion. He launched his debut album named The Connection few months ago and his tracks had hit the US and UK billboards. (His track Jeevithe plays regularly at BBC Radio 1 - Listen). He is currently tours Sri Lanka and will perform here until end of December.

Still DeLon is not a star @ SL but I believe his talent is far ahead of the so called HipHop stars in SL. He could be the first SL artist to enter to the so called Mainstream Music Industry (world of 50 cent, Ricky Martin, Justin Timberlake rules). So let's wish all the best to our boy to reach to the top. You can find more info and buy his album from www.ceylonrecords.com

P.S. - Few weeks ago DeLon featured in the IRAJ remix show in Sirasa and
DeLon didn't speak a single word in Sinhala but in his track Jeevithe says "Apitama himi vu apage hela basa amathaka karanna epa" (don't forget our own mother tongue). Irony !!

Not the Best Days of my life....

2005-12-19T13:03:00.000+06:00

Eventhough this is the festive season I don't feel the fantasy I tasted when I was a kid. Being in the threshold of Youth, future of the life seems very challenging. Triple roles as a hardworking student, workholic employee and a faithful lover adds spice to life. Back in the day, I thought getting to this state will be more exciting. Our lives we are running after a mirage that we will never get to. But I still like to take this challenge and to make it a fun.

Meanwhile I finished my first commercial project, It was the corporate web site of our Mother Company DiNi Communications - www.dini.net. This was done with XHTML/Flash and now waiting to see how it goes.

So even with little hiccups I still enjoy my life, it's hot and cool.

Google Analytics - Yet another great service from Google.

2005-12-13T12:19:00.000+06:00

These days google is making headlines with their great services. It was GMail, Google Talk, Google Base and now what its Google Analytics. A free (doubt how long they will make it free since this is a fountain of revenue) service to be used for your online business campaign. You could be a company CEO or a Webmaster, but this is still with great value. A CEO can use it to understand the areas to target the business and to decide where to spend money. Also a Webmaster could use it to determine how usable the current navigation system is.

With Google Anaylatics, you can see the interactivy of the users in the site. How they went through the pages and the site traffic pattern. Also you can moniter the Keywords popularity, success of your AdWords campaign. Plenty of Reports and Summaries to chose from (Weekly Traffic Assesments to Geogrophical interest.) You can do wonders with this.

But the dissapoinment is they have currently suspended the singups due to excessive requests. But it's better to wait in the queue, if you are lucky you may have a chance to experience it...
Here is the Link - Google Analytics

Yahoo Answers

2005-12-09T16:26:00.000+06:00

This is a great place to share your knowledge and experience with others. Also find solutions to your questions (Of course, homework help is there). It's free and points system makes it funful.

Join today and experience.

Engineer Interview Triage?

2005-12-06T15:52:00.000+06:00

excerpt from Joe Kraus blog

A while ago (actually, any post I've done is now "a while ago...") I wrote about Sabermetrics for Startups. I wondered if there was data you could collect in an interview process that would allow you to more accurately determine if someone, particularly an engineer, would be successful in your company.

I don't think I have all the answers, but over the last few months, I've honed in on three questions that I believe have a correlation with three key skills.

I'm not talking about technical skills. There are a lot more people far better than me to judge whether or not someone is technically qualified as a great coder.

I am talking about the intangibles. In particular, I'm talking about three key intangibles -- communicating, tinkering and passion for coding. In my experience, these things make a huge difference in someone being a great contributor to your startup.

So, here are the questions. They're simple and they aren't pass/fail. But, I think certain answers are more correlated with success. So, pretend you're in the hot seat, bright lights, uncomfortable chair... you get the idea. Here goes

1. Do you have a blog?
It was Joel Spolsky who wrote a great piece about great engineers being defined not only by their h4x0r skillz, but by their ability to communicate. Here's what the man himself had to say

The difference between a tolerable programmer and a great programmer is not how many programming languages they know, and it's not whether they prefer Python or Java. It's whether they can communicate their ideas.By persuading other people, they get leverage. By writing clear comments and technical specs, they let other programmers understand their code, which means other programmers can use and work with their code instead of rewriting it. Absent this, their code is worthless.

If someone has a blog, you know that they are starting to make communications and writing part of a basic set of habits. You know they value those habits enough to make time for them. A public blog improves the odds that the person sitting across from you (who has great coding skills) can also effectively advocate their ideas both inside and outside the company.

2. What's your home page?
Great engineers make their own homepages. When they hit the "home" icon on their browsers, you're not likely to see My Yahoo or Amazon. They're disatisfied with their other choices out there and they take matters into their own hands (usually just a large list of links of favorite places to go, laid out "just right"). My friend, Marc Hedlund put it this way, "Jedi Knights make their own lightsabers and great engineers make their own homepages." How true.

I think the trait indicated by making your own home pages is that the person is a "tinkerer". Tinkerers are great inside companies. They're curious. They're often not quite satisfied with the status quo and doing things the way others do. They're the ones that aren't often satisfied with the way your company is doing something. But, rather than complaining or asking, they go ahead and just fix the problem.

It's hard to know if the person sitting across from you is a tinkerer, but if they make their own home page, it's more likely that they are.

3. Do you contribute to an open source project?
One thing you're looking for in a great engineer is a person who is passionate about coding. Passionate doesn't mean all-consumed-and-working-24-7, but it does mean curious, deeply interested and committed. Besides the obvious benefits of being able to review someone's open source code for quality, design patters and architecture decisions, contributing to an open source project has a strong correlation to the person being passionate about code. They're less likely to just be about code-for-cash (not that there is anything wrong about that, it's just not usually right for a very small startup). That intangible, code-as-passion, can make a huge difference to a startup.

So, that's what I think. It's only been a few months of thought. If you've got other ideas, I'm all ears.

Entrepreneurship

2005-12-06T15:23:00.000+06:00

Found a great blog with lot of inspirational posts on Entrepreneurship done by former Excite chief; Joe Kraus.

Visit this will help you and your business

Google Print - Knowledge is click away.

2005-11-23T15:11:00.000+06:00

Yesterday I explained the power of Wikipedia, the community encyclopedia. Today I hope to introduce a another free internet service, Google Print. This service is from search engine giant google allows to search over full text of books. Today I had the real taste of it.

I wanted to find some inorganic chemistry exercises for my gf, I did some research on google books. The results were awesome. I was bit disappointed that this service was not available from last year. But this opens up the gates to the free world of knowledge. Think how much help this is for students, less pains for researches and reference.

This doesn't provide downloading, copying or printing of the material cause of copyright issues. I'm going to dig into hacking possibilities of it...

Dotnetforum.lk

2005-11-22T12:16:00.000+06:00

I'm doing too many posts today I guess. (This is my 3rd for the day)

I would like to introduce the dotnetforum.lk. This place is dedicated to .Neter's in SL. I could recommend this as a nice place to solve many MS related questions. People are really friendly.

Wikipedia - Sharing the global knowledge

2005-11-22T12:04:00.000+06:00

Whoo! I submitted my first article to Wikipedia. It was about Sri Lanka's new PM. I never thought contributing to a encyclopedia would be this easy.

Wiki's are a another great innovation thanks to the web 2.0 approach. World is moving to a decentralised knowledge system, I guess.

Apache Axis 2 - The next Generation of SOAP

2005-11-22T10:56:00.000+06:00

This is an open-source project lead by Sri Lankans. Infact this is a proud to the nation. I'm still trying to find the possibilities of it.

Apache Axis2 is an implementation of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Recommendation from the W3C. Axis2 can be used to provide and consume Web Services.

From the W3C recommendation:

"SOAP is a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined datatypes, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses."

Apache Axis2 is an effort to re-implement both Axis/Java and Axis/C++ on a new architecture. Building upon the "handler chain" model developed in Axis1, Axis2 introduces a more flexible pipeline architecture which lends itself to greater modularity and extensibility. This extensibility will allow Axis2 to act as a foundation for a growing constellation of associated Web Services protocols including:

The world's premiere student technology competition.

2005-11-21T16:42:00.000+06:00

Let's face it-the world needs help. The kind of help that happens when you take the top young technologists from around the globe and turn them loose on solving the world's toughest problems. That's what Imagine Cup is all about. Imagine Cup is your chance to innovate, show the world what you've got, and win some serious prizes. Simply put, it's your chance to use the power of technology to better the world-and have some fun while you're at it.

You win. We all win.

Imagine Cup contestants have the chance to give their ideas exposure, make critical contacts, and experience a true sense of friendship with peers worldwide. Want more? Well, if you make it to the worldwide finals, you'll also score an all-expense paid trip to Delhi, India, and a shot at some great cash prizes: $8,000 winning an invitational or even $25,000 for the software design invitational winner. Help the world and win money? It doesn't get any better than that.

Elections a Waste of Time ??

2005-11-18T10:50:00.000+06:00

I hope most of the Sri Lankans still be @ the TV watching the final Results while some may gone to sleep after spending the whole night watching the Results.
Eventhough there is no curfew, Roads are gone deadly it's very rare to see a Bus or any other public transportation. Very few ppl have reported to work in the offices 2dy.

I feel this is really negative for a developing country like SL. People just waste their time for nothing. It's their duty to cast the vote yesterday, but then I think they should get into their normal routine after that. We should not let elections to degrade the productivty in the country. Our country already suffering with a bad economy so we cannot afford to lose more time and money.

Who ever wins it's his and his party's victory and average people doesn't have any direct advantage of that victory.Our commercial Media is also trying to glue people with carefully plotted advertising campaings. They try to lure people promising pots of cash and other gifts. But the truth is their selling the election for their own profits, they don't love our ppl neither the politicians (eventhough they do love).

People should understand they should not depend on the political stamina. They should try to get up with their own feet to gain a better living condition. Until then Our country will suffer with this Political Hypocrisy.

Friends Reunited !!!

2005-11-16T15:37:00.000+06:00

Yesterday Our old class mates had an chance to get-together. Eventhough we got out of school very recently (just 4 months ago) things have moved really fast. It was great to be with our bunch of friends who were funful, exciting and studious. I think our class was exceptional class in our school history (St.Benedict's College) .

Our guys have excelling in their own fields and for sure will climb to top in their careers.Imagine in another 10 years Nipun (alias Vadda) and Sandun the Docs, Eranga (alias Panadol) the Marketing Manager, Dilan, Shavi Music Producers, Sajeewa the Telecom Engineer, Aravinda the Merchandiser, will be GREAT !!

All da best ma friends, you all making our alma mata proud !

Pretty Boring Day...

2005-10-31T10:57:00.000+06:00

Today being the hallowean day, I'm feeling so bored. But I did enjoy a greeaat Weekend ! Dunno Why ?

Tech Support

2005-10-26T13:49:00.000+06:00

Customer: I'm trying to connect to the Internet with your CD, but it just doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
Tech support: OK, you've got the CD in the CD drive, right?
Customer: Yeah.
Tech support: And what sort of computer are you using?
Customer: Computer? Oh no, I haven't got a computer. It's in the CD player and all I get is weird noises. Listen.....
Tech support: Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!

----------------------- --------------------------------------------------- ------

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female customer: A white one.

-------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------

Cus tomer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No... wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... sorry...

---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?

------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

Te ch support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male Customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and...
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates, damn it!

--------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------

Cust omer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...

------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

Cu stomer: I have problems printing in red...
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah.................... thank you.

-------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------

Tec h support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me in the supermarket.

------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------

Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer: OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does work

-------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------

Tec h support: Your password is the small letter a as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?

---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------

Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.

------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------

T ech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry... Internet Explorer.

--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.

---------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- -

Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?

--------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------

A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."

------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------

A nd last but not least...

Tech support: "Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
Customer: I don't have a P.
Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech support: "P"... on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!!!

Boring??? Try some Viral Marketing

2005-10-23T13:04:00.000+06:00

Next time you feel bored try this site. It contains many Viral Marketing clips to download.

Try out typing - http://www.boreme.com

Web 2.0 - New Age of Internet

2005-10-18T11:38:00.000+06:00

Today Web 2.0 has become a popular buzzword in e-business.

Anyway what does Web 2.0 really mean ?

Here I found a good article @ Oreilly

Here are some of the extracts from the article:

Core Competencies of Web 2.0 Companies

Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability

Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them

Trusting users as co-developers

Harnessing collective intelligence

Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service

Software above the level of a single device

Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models

My (Holi)Day

2005-10-17T10:53:00.000+06:00

Today been a holiday (Poya Day in Sri Lanka) I'm felt bit bored staying at home came to the office to have some fun. This may look bit wired but I enjoy the being in the office. Unlimited Internet Connectivity, State-of-the art machines & technologies, relaxing environment are just few things that keeps me in the office. These may be some of the basic things available at any office in the world, but they are great to me maybe because this was my first experience in a working world. Another reason is my office is just 3 KM away from my home so it's also greaattt!!!

I missed TechEd 2005

2005-10-15T11:05:00.000+06:00

It was so sad for me, a person who keeps track of all IT events in the country missed Microsoft's TechED conference which concluded yesterday. I'm really sad !!! It would have been a great chance to get to know some Geeks in the business. Anyway Life is like this :(

Anyhow I'm getting my hands on to the areas such as AJAX and Microsoft's new WinFX archetecture.

Heavy Downpour in the City

2005-10-14T09:55:00.000+06:00

Last few days we've been experiencing Heavy Downpour. So the days was very dull and wet. Virtually everyone was to be soaked and untidy. Hope there won't be any floods this time around.

Thankfully so far today morning has been bright and sunny.

Is your Web site 'usable'?

2005-09-27T12:04:00.000+06:00

I found this article from Microsoft Web Site. Must Read for every Web Master.

By Kim Komando

Let's start with this scenario: You need to buy something and you decide to do some advance research online.

You try one company's Web site. It's plain, but it lists pricing information, the models it services, and its contact information. Then you try another company's site. It makes you sit through a three-minute Flash presentation before letting you explore the site. (There's a "skip this intro" button at the top right, but the button is camouflaged.) And, instead of getting pricing information, you have to fill out a form and wait for a salesperson to call.

You're probably going to call the first company, right?

As you might infer by our second example, a Web site's elegance is simply not going to win over users. If your site is not easily navigable and doesn't contain relevant and up-to-date information, you're driving customers away.

That's where Web site "usability" comes into play. According to Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, an internationally recognized expert in this area, "Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use."

Here are six things you need to do to make your Web site "usable."

1.	Help your customers find their way. How easy is it to get around your Web site? When customers look at the home page, do they see a clearly marked navigation system? Or do they have to roam around clicking things until something happens? Think hard about whether you really need to be a navigation trailblazer. If your navigation system is radically different than others, you'll confuse your users. A simple drop-down or tabbed menu using words is fine. It may not look as cool or trendy, but your users will be able to find what they need. Let's consider a small bookstore's Web site as an example. Imagine using pictures of books on the left-hand side of the page. When you mouse over the picture, the book opens and tells you the genre. It's clever but impractical. Your customers don't want to remember that the third book down is the home-improvement section and the sixth book takes you to romance novels. And they don't want to wait three seconds for the book to open to find where that link will lead.
2.	Say what you mean, and say it clearly. It's so easy to get caught up in marketing lingo and buzzwords. But they may well confuse the customer. If you are selling a product or offering a service, state it clearly. There are countless Web sites filled with warm and fuzzy slogans that never get to the point. What exactly does "providing solutions to problems" mean? What are the problems? How are they solved? And a user shouldn't have to click on the About Us page (you do have one, right?) to figure out what your business does. That information should be on your home page.
3.	Keep it simple. A splash page which is a special landing page for product offers, sale items or special features, often with lots of graphics and color may be a great way for Web designers to show their talent. But for many customers, it can be an annoyance. I say, dump it. But if you must have a splash page, consider giving your customers a "Skip this" link (if you have the same basic information on another page). Keep pictures, large text, flashing banners and the like to a minimum. Those types of gimmicks generally cheapen a site. They also make the Web pages take longer to download. For example, I have reviewed many products from one particular company (that shall remain nameless). The products offered are of high quality, but the company's Web site is a flashing, gaudy mess. It makes the company look like it's peddling junk. Your Web site doesn't have to be barebones. But it shouldn't be obnoxious, either.
4.	Provide information, not marketing-speak. Think about why people visit your Web site. They go there to get information or to buy a product. Make it as easy as possible to find the information they want not just what you want to provide. I personally dislike lots of advertising puffery and grinning people. Please, just tell me what you do. One sure irritant is pricing secrecy. Don't make a customer fill out a form to find out how much something will cost. You'd be annoyed if you walked into a grocery store and had to fill out a form to get the price of milk. Obviously, if you sell insurance, you can't publish a price list. But you can set up a page that calculates several variables and provides free ballpark quotes. Customers want instant information. Give it to them. It's also important to update your site regularly. It does you no good if the contact information for sales is for someone who left the company months ago. Unfortunately, many companies throw up a Web site and then forget about it.
5.	Test your site again and again. There is one simple way to attain good usability. Testing, testing and more testing. But you have to test with the right people. Your customers and readers are the best people to test a site. They are the ones who use your site. Unless your core audience is Web designers and tech-savvy users, avoid using these people as your guinea pigs. What's obvious to them could leave the true users scratching their heads. If possible, be in the same room as the tester(s). And test individually. That way you can observe and write notes as questions and problems arise. Don't answer questions. If something isn't obvious to users, you'll have to tweak the design. It may sound like testing takes a ton of time and money, but it doesn't. For a small site, it should take about 20 minutes or so per user. Four or five users is a good sample to get sufficient feedback. After testing, changes should only take a day or two. You can always offer a free product or service or perhaps a gift certificate to a restaurant for the tester's time.
6.	Be a usability advocate; it can pay off. Having a Web site with strong usability could boost your bottom line. The Nielsen Norman Group (www.nngroup.com) conducted a study on the return on investment of 42 redesigned Web sites. Owners of those sites spent an average of 10% of their Web budget on usability. After redesigning the sites, site usability increased by 135%, the sales-conversion rate increased 100% and traffic increased 150%, according to the study. Yes, it's easy to see why you need usability. But I will be the first to tell you that it's also difficult to attain over time, especially if you have a Web site that changes, grows and evolves. This is something that I struggle with on my own site. I am continually updating it based on user feedback. Web usability does take time, money and attention. But it pays off in the long run.

My Work...

2005-09-22T13:57:00.000+06:00

Today I'm starting off with a new project. It will be very challenging and much exciting.

I'll post more details later.

Macromedia Flash 8 - What's in it for me!!!

2005-09-21T14:51:00.000+06:00

Macromedia released the Flash 8 few weeks ago & I was able to download a free trial and currently I'm playing with it. The new version makes Flash the king of Rich Internet Media. The great improvments on graphics makes me dance.

The Action Script 2.0 also includes new classes such as Drawing API, Bitmap API which gives developers great control over display.

I'm busy with exploring all these new capabilities and I'm imagining about doing some new produtions so keep rollin in. I'll get back soon !!!!

AL RESULTS ARE OUT !!!

2005-09-16T13:59:00.000+06:00

The GCE A/L results were released last week. With much effort I manged to get thru... but the race isn't over yet. Hav to wait for another few months to be sure whether I'm lucky enough to walk into UNI (Infact cut-off marks will be released somewhere round Dec 20. Pray For me Buddies:))

Still this education system in Sri Lanka is hard to understand by a average person. I find many students, parents and even teachers who got puzzled with scanrios like Z-SCORE, Ranking system, Merit Basis and etc..

YA YA EDUCATION in SL is stil a GEEK'S BUSINESS !!!

SL HIP-HOPZ

2005-08-20T06:05:00.000+06:00

These days I got my ear on the COOL & HOT Sri Lankan HipHop, RnB hits. WOW !!!

THEY ARE AWSOME on the simple sense but with more pentration whats culture & biz we r up2 ?

There are whole bunch of Youth in the industry from BnS to SILENT PROJECT focusing on producing range of quality originals blending RAP, RAGA, HIP-HOP & BANGARA with our own Vannam & melodies. TAKING the SRI LANKAN ICON to the DIGITAL MEDIA MAP :-)

The concept is great; end result is quite productive. (Music tha MONEY-SPINNER??)

Hi Everyone !!!

2005-08-17T13:58:00.000+06:00

So everyone is with bloggy syndrome thesedays so why NOT for me ??? I should apologize from the NET for taking so long to get on the boat but now I'm sailing....